Ronnefalk takes A2

David Ronnefalk has taken a tricky A2 win at the 1:10 Offroad Worlds in Xiamen, the wind continued to pick up and making for difficult racing conditions.  Having missed out on the TQ on a tie break with Ty Tessmann, Ronnefalk would capitalise on his former team-mate jumping wide out of the double section on the first lap, getting down the inside of the Canadian to take a lead he wouldn’t give up despite parking his HB Racing buggy in the piping in the chicane. With racers battling the wind rather than one another, Maifield would finish second after getting by Tessmann as the wind again put his Xray off target although the pairing would make a head to head dash to the line on the final lap with Maifield just hanging on by 0.058.

Commenting on the second final, Ronnefalk said, ‘I had a good start and got by Ty on the back jump. He went wide so I went for the inside and got by. Then I wanted just to stay patient’. He continued, ‘I caught the pipe in the chicane but my lead was good enough to stay in front. I had got caught by the wind. It was pretty hard with the wind so it was a matter of taking smart decisions and staying patient’. Changing ‘a bunch off stuff’ on his car after A1, he said this gave him ‘a more consistent’ car and he ‘will leave it like this and see what happened in A3’, including, ‘It will be interesting for sure’.

Maifield said, ‘I got a better start but I almost got in the back of Bruno again. I don’t know what he was doing but luckily I backed off big time’. When I got in my rhythm I drove fast and consistent but the wind got me in the back section. You have be so concentrated on what you are doing out there because of the wind. Me and Ty went for it on the last lap as was expected’. Looking to A3, the 2WD World Champion who has the points lead after A2, he said, ‘If we get to race A3 just trying to finish is going to a challenge’, the wind picking up even more.

‘I jumped the jump section but got caught by the wind and landed wide which let David get by’, was Tessmann’s summary of A2. The Xray driver said, ‘then I got nervous for a few laps. My car was harder to drive I think because the tyres were different’. He continued, ‘the wind is causing havoc. It is hard, you have to drive one lap at a time. It doesn’t feel like a race track, it’s like an obstacle course’.

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Maifield wins A1 from Tessmann

Ryan Maifield moved into strong contention to do the double in China, with the newly crowned 2WD World Champion winning the opening 4WD A-Main ahead of Top Qualifier Ty Tessmann.  After rain cancelled the final qualifier this morning, dry but windy conditions awaited racers for the finals and initially it looked like Tessmann was on for an easy win.  A mistake from David Ronnefalk gave Tessmann the break and both Bruno Coelho & Maifield were delayed after they came together in the jump section.  With all the drivers struggling with the gusty winds, Tessmann would get caught out on his 4th lap allowing the now second Maifield with Coelho in toe to close.  A second mistake on lap 10 this time at the end of the doubles section when he jumped long would be the opportunity Maifield needed to go to the front and once there was helped by further problems for Tessmann at the same section and could cruise to the A1.  With reigning champion Coelho retiring from the race with a radio issue, it was Ronnefalk who came home a distant third.

‘It started a little crazy, I don’t know how or what happened with Bruno.  I didn’t go immediately and when I landed the first double I ass rammed him. I don’t think it was my fault’.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I only lost a couple of places.  A couple of guys made mistakes and I got back to second so I just tried to maintain position to Ty, then when Bruno crashed it gave me breathing room and I pushed.  I closed when he had his first mistake and then got him when he had another one’.  Asked about the wind during the race, Maifield replied, ‘I don’t want to say it is impossible to jump because we’re jumping the jumps but the wind was the No.1 concern out there.  The wind doesn’t care who it is blowing around so it could wreck your race and help others’.  One his YZ-4, he said, ‘we made some changes before the race to get it better for the wind which help a bit’.

Tessmann said, ‘it started off good and the car was good so I was just trying to drive around without crashing but the wind in the jumps section is crazy.  The car is like a dead sail and it’s hard to judge where the wind is going to take it. It got me twice there.’  The Xray driver continued, ‘my car felt racey and like I could race if I had too. I just need a cleaner run next time.’.  With the track having proven difficult throughout both 2WD and 4WD he concluded on the wind, ‘If its not one difficult thing its another’.

‘It was OK, nothing special’ was Ronnefalk’s reaction to finishing 3rd.  The HB Racing continued, ‘I had a couple of mistakes in the mid point of the race and that left me in no mans land for the last 2-minutes.  It so hard out there with the gusts of wind.  The wind just took my car in the air and thats how I crashed. Still I got back to third place but I wish I had been closer to capitalise of Tessmann’s mistakes towards the end’.  He concluded, ‘I hope I have a better 2nd Main. My car is good out there’.

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Tessmann Top Qualifier in China as rain stops final qualifier

Ty Tessmann is Top Qualifier at the 1:10 Offroad World Championships in China. The Xray driver secured his first electric offroad World Championship pole position after rain forced the cancellation of the final round of qualifying just after he had laid down the TQ pace as the top heat get of Q5 got underway. With cars from the fastest heat struggling to make the jumps and looking more like drift cars as the moisture set in, the call was made to stop racing and while officials deliberated the rain set in.  With drivers from the top heat still on track it was all hands on deck to cover track with the tarps, drivers keen to ensure that there is some chance of deciding the World title with racing rather than on qualifying order.  Behind Tessmann, David Ronnefalk qualifies second having tied on points with Tessmann but had the slower TQ time following his last tangle with Ryan Cavalieri in Q4 yesterday.  Struggling with the windy conditions in Q5, reigning champion Bruno Coelho will hopefully start his title defence from 3rd on the grid just ahead of newly crowned 2WD Champion Ryan Maifield with Spencer Rivkin completing the Top 5.  Also making the cut based on the best 2 of 4 rounds, rather than the planned 3 of 5, Joern Nuemann starts sixth ahead of Dakotah Phend, Naoto Matsukura, Ryan Cavalieri and Dustin Evans.

Having delivered a result that would have also given him the TQ had qualifying gone full distance, topping the fastest heat ahead of Matsukura and Neumann, Tessmann summed up Q5 by saying, ‘It was a little bit edgy so I was just trying to get around without crashing.  When it started to sprinkle my car was easier to drive.  I didn’t care too much about the TQ I was just trying to improve my points and when I saw Ryan (Maifield) crash I then just cruised around’.  Asked his thoughts on the developing situation regarding the running of the finals, the former 1:8 Offroad World Champion said, ‘If it stops maybe we can get going but with the lower grip there is going to be a few surprises as to who is quick’.  He continued, ‘we have a good car for low grip and we will get some diffs with lighter oil ready but even if we run its going to be on slime’.  One of the drivers involved in pulling out the tarps to cover the track he added, ‘I was hard to even stay upright, it was very slippery. It wasn’t quite like ice but it was close. Let wait and see’.

‘It will be interesting if it happens, it is not so bright right now but the forecast is better for the afternoon’, was Ronnefalk’s reaction after the stoppage.  The HB Racing driver continued, ‘I was a terrible decision to wait to cover the track because it is now wet even under the tarp so everyone is going to have to change the set-up of their car. You could see how much it changes even in the second heat so this will sure mix things up’. The reigning 1:8 World Champion concluded, ‘we have a plan for what to do with the car but we have to wait and see what the weather brings’.

Starting his title defence from 3rd on the grid, Coelho said, ‘the track will be completely different for the finals, it will be hard for everyone to know how to set-up their cars for this’.  Also the reigning European Champion, a title he won on dirt as opposed to his Worlds win on astro turf in Japan, the Xray driver continued, ‘I struggled a lot with the wind in the last qualifier, I’m not (a full time) offroad racer and am not used to this. I think the final will be hard now’.

‘I think we kind of knew this was going to happen’, was Maifield’s view on the situation.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I don’t think it is going to matter if you start 4th or 10th because when we pull off the tarps off its going to be a sticky mess even if we get to run.  Another driver who was involved in pulling out the track covers he said, ‘At least they made the decision to let us cover the track’.  Feeling his car ‘seems to have more traction than others when it got loose’, the American concluding, ‘it going to be hard to even jump some of the jumps so it is going to be the smartest not the fastest driver who is going to win’.  In terms of starting the finals, a provisional start time of 12:05 (Beijing time) has been called for a round of free practice.

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4 different TQs as Ronnefalk survives Cav tangle to top Q4

Qualifying at the 1:10 4WD Offroad World Championship produced yet another different TQ as David Ronnefalk took the fourth round despite a last lap tangle with former Champion Ryan Cavalieri that would cost the HB Racing driver over 2-seconds.  Luckily however for the reigning 1:8 Offroad World Champion his predecessor Ty Tessmann would make a 5-second mistake of his own doing on the final lap allowing the Swede claim his first TQ run by 3-seconds over the Canadian.  For Ronnefalk, who hasn’t run outside the Top 3 all day, the TQ puts him as the overnight provisional TQ holder over Tessmann.  However, with rain forecast for tomorrow, should the fifth and final qualifier be cancelled reverting the standings to count 2 from 4 rather than 3 from 5, then it is Tessmann who will be declared Top Qualifier due to having the quicker TQ time which explains Ronnefalk’s frustration at being obstructed by Cavalieri.  Overall it was a dramatic end to Day 2 of the event with the top heat also seeing Ryan Maifield retire after 3-laps while laying down the TQ pace with a broken arm and reigning champion Bruno Coelho having TQ’d the previous round tangled with Michal Orlowski eventually retiring after a series of crashes.  A clean round from Dakotah Phend would reward the TLR driver with third, his best qualifier, ahead of Joern Neumann, also having his best run of the day, Spencer Rivkin and Dustin Evans.

‘I’m still pissed because if it rains tomorrow Ty will be TQ.  Cavalieri cost me the best time on the last lap so that (Q5 being rained off) would suck’, was Ronnefalk’s response when asked about Q4.  He continued, ‘Cavalieri spun around at the chicane and I thought he was going to let me by but he didn’t.  Luckily I got the TQ because Ty crashed on his last lap’.  Claiming his first Electric Offroad Worlds Championship podium 2-years ago in Japan, he concluded, ‘I am happy anyway because the car has been great so we’ll just have to wait and see what it is going to do to tomorrow’.  Currently organisers are working off a forecast that will see it ran from 06:00 to 07:00 in the morning which should mean no delays to the timetable a round of free practice scheduled at 08:35 ahead of the final round of qualifying.

Summing up his Q4 attempt, Tessmann said, ‘It was good until the last lap’.  The Xray driver continued, ‘the track is really difficult to get around but I was just pushing too hard to try catch David’.  Asked about his error in the centre section, most onlookers missing it having been distracted by Ronnefalk’s tangle with Cavalieri, he replied, ‘I don’t really know what happened, the car just tumbled about 15 feet’.   The result of the error was a 29.5 lap time compared to his previous 24.6 lap.

‘I ran the whole time without a mistake. I was quite a bit slower but I was more consistent and it paid off’, was Phend’s reaction to his best run of the day, his overall time 6-seconds quicker than his previous best of P8 in Q1.  Having made changes to his car for the round, he said they had made the car ‘a lot safer to drive but slower’.  Also going more safe at the controls driving at a ‘half decent pace’, he said ‘nearly everyone made two mistakes, it is getting harder every run out there but this time our approach paid off in the end’.  Feeling they might have gone a bit too far with the set-up changes he plans to ‘go back a little to gain a little more speed for tomorrow’.

‘So so, two times I had to single the double and one time I had a big mistake’, was how top seed Neumann summed up the penultimate qualifier.  The German, who is racing without a chassis sponsor and has opted to use an Xray, continued, ‘today the track is more difficult to drive than yesterday’.  Sitting 6th in the overnight ranking he added, ‘I hope to end up Top 5 after qualifying because I think the finals will be wide open.  Four different drivers have TQ’d which shows just how tough it is’.  Behind Neumann, Spencer Rivkin would continue to be the best of the Associated drivers with fifth for the round combined with his Q1 TQ leaving him holding 5th overnight. AE team-mate Dustin Evans would end his day with a P6, his best result of the day.  Needing to get a good result in Q5 to make the A-Main, he sits 12th overall which is one better than team-mate and former champion Ryan Cavalieri.

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World Champion Coelho delivers first TQ run

Reigning World Champion Bruno Coelho ‘finally’ delivered his first TQ run in China as he became the first driver to run 13-laps at Xiamen ARC International Raceway. With a P4 for the opening round and a P5 in Q2, the Xray driver produced his cleanest run on his third attempt to top the times from David Ronnefalk and Ryan Maifield – the consistent duo of qualifying so far switching their Top 3 order of the previous two rounds.  With Coelho the third different driver to top the times in qualifying, Q2 pace setter Ty Tessmann would back it up with a P4 while Spencer Rivkin managed a much improved performance on his previous qualifier to end up 7th for the round.

Opting to leave his Hobbywing powered XB4 unchanged for Q3 having ‘got the car very good’ for the second qualifier, Coelho reaction was one of relief as he summed up his performance with ‘finally’. The reigning European Champion, a title he won on dirt while his World and EOS titles all come on artificial surfaces, he said, ‘I just went out to make a clean run and while that didn’t actually happen because I hit the pipe at the start after a hard comeback I could get the TQ’. Having struggled to get his car to his liking throughout the six rounds of practice and the opening qualifier, he said improvements in Q2 gave him confidence and leaving the car unchanged he could focus more on his driving. With just one qualifier remaining on today’s schedule, the fifth & final qualifier taking place tomorrow morning ahead of the final, he said his focus for Q4 is to keep the car the same and learn to drive it better around the track without having to readjust to changes to the set-up.

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